This is what happens...

when you tell Caroline, "smile!".

 when Jack picks out his own swim trunks.  Yes, these are the Spiderman speedo-shorts he's been sporting all during swim lessons.  They are SUPER cute though!  More pictures of swim lessons to come.  They end on Friday.

Blueberry Pickin

Early this morning we met up with some friends to do some blueberry picking. I have been wanting to do this for a very good while now and was SO excited to get to go this morning. We woke the kids up before 6 and were in the car with breakfasts in cups to meet up with the group. Once at the blueberry patch (is that what it is called), we got all the kid gear ready and loaded up with our buckets. I knew Jack would get into it, but would Caroline? Tommy was great with her and let her fill her cup up with (mostly) blue blueberries. That was a bit tricky getting all the kids to focus on the very blue ones...no tart ones! We ended up with 3 full buckets (17 pounds!) of blueberries. I am excited to make some jam and syrup to can early this week. I'm also looking for some muffin and other recipes to try. I think our deep freeze is going to be full of blueberries for a good bit! Now, when are the blackberries ready to pick? Anyways, a few pictures from our day..

 Jack checking it out.  Make sure they are blue!

 Caroline getting in on the action.  She actually did a really good job!

 Excited to move to a new section.

 All the kids helping.

All finished for the day!

Love this blog!

If you are crafty (or want to be crafty), you should check out this blog. Erin is such a whiz at fun kid projects and ways to be more "green." Her site is the one I got my laundry detergent recipe from! (Elaine, I know you are going to be checking that out here soon!) She's got a great giveaway going on right now too. Check it out! (Oh, and she posts a WHOLE lot more often than I do!)
http://www.abirdandabean.blogspot.com

Memorial Day, finally

I have been a bit delayed updating here lately. School is finally out, so now I have plans to be abit more on top of things. We'll see how that goes. Here are some photos from Memorial day. We had a great day filled with 2 parades, good friends, and Dairy Queen. Can't get much better than that!

First parade: City of Florence

As you can very clearly tell, the kids had a great time.  Caroline really had a ball waving to everyone.  She also still drags those flags around in the driveway.  After this parade, we headed home for naps and then headed to Covington for our 2nd parade.  Our neighbor Richard is a fireman in Covington,  We went to see him in the parade.  We love Richard and Ashley.  And of course, Jack loves that Richard is a firefighter!

After the parade we headed to Dairy Queen with Richard, Ashley and her parents.  Caroline LOVED the icecream.  Ashley made this nice collage for us of all Caroline's faces.  Now if only we could get Jack to eat this eagerly, all the time!

Tada

Thirty-One

My neighbor recently became a consultant for and introduced me to the Thirty-One company.  I have to say, I'm LOVING the products.  I am excited to be hosting a party next weekend.  For any of you that are local, I would love to have you over.  2pm, my house, Sunday, June 13.  Please let me know if you are interested.  Or if you are not local, take a look at the catalog and let me know if you find anything.  So much cute stuff...and so REASONABLE.  I think that's what sold me.  Anyways, I already have several things in use for me and the kids.  Come see what she's got!  Here's her page with the catalog.

http://www.mythirtyone.com/ashleymcfarland31/

Video galore

**I've decided to add a login to our site to add a bit of privacy (I know, there are probably only 5 people really reading this, but still).  Once I add the login, I'm pretty sure it will just ask that you request permission.  No big deal!  I think it's best in the long run!**

Here are a few videos from recent times.

I love this one showing how the kids play together.  They are at that good age where they entertain and enjoy each other.  We just have to watch Jack as he sometimes gets really irritated/frustrated if Caroline gets into his things.  I also love noticing how different our kids are.  I like to think back to what Jack looked like at this age!

Here is a photo of both kids at 14 months...similarities?

This has to be one of my favorites of Caroline (although, as I think about the chair video from just a bit back, I have to think this might be my 2nd).  She loves to move!  This little Dora toy is one of her favorites.  Even as she watches this video now, her little hips start shaking!